Widgeon

The Westland Widgeon was a light, single‑engine amphibious aircraft built by Westland Aircraft Ltd in the early 1930s. Designed as a versatile trainer and liaison machine, it first flew on 8 May 1932 and entered limited production the following year. The Widgeon featured a high‑mounted, strut‑braced wing and a sealed hull with retractable landing gear, allowing operation from both water and conventional airfields. Powered by a 120‑horsepower de Havilland Gipsy III engine, the aircraft could reach a top speed of 115 mph and a range of roughly 350 miles, adequate for short‑range coastal patrols and instructional flights. Its spacious cabin accommodated a pilot and up to two passengers, while large windows gave excellent visibility for observation duties. Although only twelve examples were completed before the programme was cancelled in 1935, the Widgeon demonstrated Westland’s ability to integrate naval‑type features into a civil‑market platform. The type influenced later British amphibians such as the Westland Lysander’s float‑plane variants and proved a valuable testbed for hull‑design concepts that would later appear in wartime flying boats. The Widgeon remains a modest yet noteworthy chapter in the evolution of British maritime aviation.